Men's Soccer

DUE WEST—Coker’s Daniel Shirzad’s goal in the match’s 75th minute proved to be the game winner as the Cobras defeated Erskine, 3-2 Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas action at Huggins Field. The Cobras remained a perfect 7-0 on the season while Erskine dropped to 1-5-1 on the season.

The hard-fought match went back and forth all afternoon. Coker struck first at 23:18 on a goal by Eric Steifeld (Eustis, Fla.) who pounced on a loose ball mishandled by Erskine goalie Taylor Kern (Hartwell, GA). Erskine’s Tyrell Dyson (Grovetown, GA) responded at 36:45 when he took a pass from Matt Robinson (Manchester, England) and hit a slow roller past Coker goalie James Sweeney (Huntingtown, Md.). The two teams went half tied at 1.

Coker went up 2-1 at 55:30 on Tyler Senecal’s (Mt. Pleasant, N.C.) direct kick that got mishandled by Erskine goalie Devon Braykovich (Roswell, GA). The Fleet responded 15 minutes later on Alex Connelly’s (Warrington, England) shot from the top of the box after the ball had bounced off the goal on Cade Weatherly’s (Lexington, SC) shot attempt. The game winner came at 74:27 when Shirzad (Orlando, Fla.) avoided a Fleet defender at the top of the box and hit a left foot bomb past Braykovich.

Coker out shot Erskine on the afternoon 12-6. The game was plagued with 10 yellow cards being assessed.

Coker faces cross-town rival Francis Marion University in their next match on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Coker Soccer Field.